Approval
by gemfinder360
Summary: There are two weddings that Rachel attends in her life where she seeks the approval of Carole Hudson-Hummel. One is Kurt/Blaine's and Santana/Brittany's wedding, the other is her own.
1. The Wedding Part 1

**I was disappointed that there wasn't a scene in 6X08, the wedding episode, between Rachel and Carole, and I am suffering from a wicked case of insomnia so here we go. Enjoy!**

The wedding had brought up some mixed emotions for Rachel. The ceremony had been gorgeous, and she was so incredibly happy for Santana, Britney, Kurt and Blaine. They were her best friends, and she couldn't think of any other four people in the world who deserved to be happy than them.

But she couldn't help it when her mind wandered to a time that could have been. She kept getting flashbacks of the day that she and Finn had almost gotten married at the courthouse. He looked so handsome in his suit, and it took her breath away that someone as amazing as Finn had chosen to spend the rest of their life with someone like her. However, she was almost glad that they didn't get married then. _Almost_. Looking back on it now, she knew that if they had gotten married at the tender age of 18, her selfishness and his need to prove himself would have left them in ruins. But she also knew that if she had known back then what her life had become 3 years later, she would have married Finn the next chance she had. She knew that she would have rather spend their last few years together fighting than them being apart.

Rachel was also desperately trying to avoid Carole. She loved the woman dearly, and she knew she wouldn't be able to handle it if the woman who had been the closest thing she had to a mother for the past couple of years was hurt or offended that Rachel was now with Sam. Rachel really liked Sam, and was excited to see where their relationship could go, but she knew that if Carole didn't approve then she would break it off with him. Finn was Carole's _child._ She had raised him all his life, and Rachel knew that as much as she had been hurting about his sudden death, Carole's pain was worse. Rachel was going to be Carole's daughter-in-law someday, the woman who gave her grandkids. The least she could do was respect Carole's feelings about her moving on with her love life.

Rachel was on the dance floor with her friends, trying to dance away all of the different feelings running through her body. She really was happy for her friends, and was trying not to let her own emotions ruin their happy day. A slow song came on, and Sam pulled her into his arms. She laid her head on his chest as they swayed back and forth, listening to his heart and relaxing for a moment. She really did like Sam, and the scent of his cologne, along with the soft music playing and the gentle sway of their dance put her into a trance. The song ended, and Rachel smiled up at Sam and gave him a sweet kiss, before looking over his shoulder and seeing Carole watching them with a smile on her face. Their eyes met, and Rachel new that she couldn't avoid the woman any longer. She took a deep breath, excused herself, and made her way to where Carole was standing.

When she finally stood in front of Carole, the woman pulled her in for a hug, which Rachel gladly accepted.

"I know that you have been avoiding me, Rachel. Want to tell me why?" Carole said into Rachel's ear, before pulling back from the hug and giving the young girl an encouraging smile.

Rachel smiled sadly at the woman. She had spent a lot of time with her when she and Finn were dating and Carole always knew when something was wrong with her. "I'm sorry, I just…" Rachel looked at the floor sheepishly. "I came here with my boyfriend, Sam, and… I don't know… I didn't want you to be disappointed with me or think that I had forgotten about Finn. I swear, I haven't. I think about him every day-"

"Rachel," Carole cut off the girl before she could ramble on further. "I'm not disappointed with you, and I know that you haven't forgotten about my son. I'm happy that you're moving on with your life, it's what he would have wanted. And I was watching you two dance just now. I can tell that you two are smitten with each other and I would never want to hold you back from that."

"Really? Are you sure?" Rachel asked.

"Of course I'm sure. It would be unfair of me to expect you to only love Finn for the rest of your life. You two weren't married, but I still think of you as the daughter I never had and I want you to be happy. The only way for you to be happy is for you to move on. I would never dream of stepping in the way of that." Carole gave a reassuring smile and all at once Rachel's earlier apprehension around the woman standing in front of her fell way.

"Thank you so much," Rachel pulled Carole into another hug. "You have been the closest thing I've had to a mother these past few years and I don't think I would have been able to handle your disapproval." Both women pulled out of the embrace and smiled at each other.

"The only thing that I disprove of is that you don't call me anymore. I meant what I said about you being like the daughter I never had. You're always welcome at our house and you need to call me more often. I miss you now that you aren't around as much. Burt does too."

Rachel laughed a little. "I'm sorry, I'll call and come around to your place more often. I'm sure that even though Kurt is married now he'll still love to put on Wednesday night family dinners."

Carole laughed a little too. "I'm sure he will, and you are always invited. Now, go on back to your friends and your boyfriend. Today is a day for celebrating, and I don't want to hold you hostage for too long."

With one last smile at Carole, Rachel headed back towards the dance floor where everyone was still dancing the night away. She found Sam, and wrapped her arms around him from behind before swinging with him to the beat of the fast-tempo song that was playing.

"Is everything all right?" Sam asked, concerned. "I saw you talking over there with Carole."

Rachel just smiled and looked over to where Carole was now dancing with Blaine, and the older woman winked at her. "Yeah," she responded. "Everything is really, really good."


	2. The Wedding Part 2

**Even though Jesse was a jerk in the beginning of the series, I'm happy that Rachel ended up with him. Of course I would have preferred Finn, but Jesse is my next best option.**

Rachel stood in front of the mirror in the room that the church had given her to get ready in. She felt like a princess in her white dress. The sweetheart neckline on the strapless dress showed just enough cleavage to be tasteful, and the tight bodice hugged her figure nicely. At the waist the skirt started to loosen around her body. The skirt wasn't big and poufy, but it wasn't form fitting either. A beautiful lace covered the whole dress, and there was a band of crystals along her waist where the skirt started. This had been the eighth dress she had tried on. At that point, everyone had been tired and ready to go home after the long day of dress shopping they had had, but as soon as Rachel walked out of the dressing room in this dress, everyone knew that they didn't have to look for any more.

Shelby stood behind Rachel, fixing the veil into Rachel's curled hair. After Rachel had graduated from NYADA when she was 25, Shelby and Rachel had reconnected and now had a strong relationship. Beth sat in the chair of the beauty desk while Santana put some light make-up on the girl. Just like Shelby and Rachel's relationship had grown, so had Rachel and Beth's, and now the 11 year old was Rachel's flower girl, while Jesse's nephew was the ring bearer.

Sitting on the couches that were in the room were Rachel's bridesmaids, Mercedes, Quinn, Tina, and Britney. Santana was Rachel's maid of honor. After Rachel went back to NYADA and Santana and Britney moved to New York, Santana and Rachel had grown very close. Her fathers were their also, already crying at the sight of their only daughter on her wedding day. Kurt and Blaine stood in the corner. Kurt had denied Rachel's request of being a bridesmaid, having flashbacks of Junior Prom, but Rachel still wanted him to be there with her every step of the way.

Once the veil was safely secured into Rachel's hair, Shelby stepped back and everyone admired the way that Rachel seemed to glow with happiness. There was a knock on the door, and Kurt went to grab it. A moment later, Carole walked into the room. She took one look at Rachel, and tears came to her eyes. Rachel saw the look that Carole was giving her, and asked everyone to leave the room. They all happily agreed, knowing that the conversation that was about to happen was going to be very emotional and they wanted to give the women their privacy.

As soon as everyone left, Carole walked over to Rachel and gave her a bone crushing hug. Rachel felt Carole's tears begin to drop on her shoulder, and began to tear up herself.

"You look so beautiful," Carole said as she stepped back and took a good look at Rachel. "Jesse is a very, very lucky man."

Rachel smiled and felt a tear roll down her cheek. She wiped it away, thankful that she had thought to wear waterproof makeup, but still didn't want to take any chances at messing it up. "I can feel him. It started this morning when I woke up. I've always felt like Finn was near me, but today it just feels…different. Stronger, even. I know that he is here, and that he is supporting me, and that just makes today even better than it already is."

Carole smiled sadly at Rachel. "I always imagined that on your wedding day, Finn would be waiting for you at the end of the isle. From the minute he told me he proposed I had been planning the speech I would give you on your wedding day, but I guess that's not important now. I'm just so happy that you found somebody who makes you feel as loved and happy as Finn did."

"Jesse does make me feel very loved and happy. It's different from the way Finn made me feel. Not better, not worse, just… different. A good different. I'm glad you stopped by, I was hoping I would get to talk to you before all the craziness happened. I've been a wreck all day and talking to you always calms me down."

"Well I'm glad. I meant what I said all those years ago at Kurt's wedding. You are the daughter that I never had and I couldn't let you walk down the aisle without seeing you first. I just wanted to come in and say that I love you and I wish you all the happiness in the world."

Rachel felt another tear roll down her cheek when she heard that. "Thank you so much, Carole. It means a lot. I'm going to let everyone back in. The wedding is going to start soon, but you can hang out here for a little bit if you want," Rachel offered.

"Thank you, but I need to go find Burt and our seats. I just wanted to stop by, but I'm sure I'll see you later."

After one final hug, Rachel let everyone back in the room as Carole left to go find Burt.

Fifteen minutes later, when Rachel walked down the aisle and saw the man that was waiting for her at the end, she knew she had no worries or regrets for what was about to happen, and in the moment when she joined Jesse at the altar, she knew that this was right and that she couldn't wait to spend the rest of her life with this man.

After they had been pronounced Mr. and Mrs. St. James, Rachel and Jesse walked back down the aisle to the car that was waiting outside the church to take them to the venue where their reception was being held. They passed Carole and Burt on their way down, and the older couple was giving Rachel a very proud smile.

At that moment, Rachel knew that nothing would ever feel more right in her life and she sent a quick thank you up to Finn for teaching her how to love and for bringing some pretty wonderful people into her life.


End file.
